Ingredients
- ***Ingredients for Tofu Fritters:
- 500g classic tofu, drained, patted dry, roughly broken up (no need to press)
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for min ½ hour
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- ¼ Obento Yaki Nori sheet, passed over flame to make crispy, then crumbled finely (adds a lovely fishy flavour!)
- ½ medium carrot, very finely diced
- 40g daikon, peeled, finely diced (for crunch!)
- 10g spring onion, green part (approx 2), finely sliced
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 egg whites
- 4 tbsp potato starch
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- Oil spray, for oiling Chinese soup spoons
- ***Ingredients for frying Tofu Fritters:
- 2 heaped tablespoons fine rice flour (Asian variety-not glutinous), mixed with 2 heaped tablespoons cornflour and ½ tsp salt
- Neutral oil (eg canola) for deep frying
- ***Ingredients for Spicy Sichuan Sauce:
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 heaped tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chilli Bean Sauce (Toban Djan)
- 4 large garlic cloves, grated (10g)
- 20 g fresh ginger, grated
- 1 cup water
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp water
- 2 tsp black vinegar
- 2 large spring onions, green parts, finely sliced
- 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil
- ***Ingredients for Chilli Cucumber Salad:
- 1 firm long continental cucumber (straight is easier to carve)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp jarred red chilli oil, plus some of the sediment if desired
- 4 large garlic cloves (10g), grated
- ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted, ground finely with mortar and pestle
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp black vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 red birdseye chilli, split up to green stem to make snake tongue
- 2 juniper berries for snake eyes
Method
- ***Method for Tofu Fritters:
- Drain soaked mushrooms, reserve soaking liquid. Remove stems of soaked mushrooms, discard. Chop mushrooms very finely.
- Place chopped mushrooms in frypan. Add soaking liquid (approx 200-250ml - leave behind the gritty bits at the bottom!) and light soy sauce. Boil on high heat, stirring regularly, until water evaporates, approx 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Blitz crumbled tofu, egg whites, potato starch, salt, white pepper, sugar in food processor until quite smooth and thick. Check consistency, should be like hummus. Add a little more potato starch if too watery. Transfer to mixing bowl.
- Stir in chopped carrot, daikon, nori, coriander, spring onions and cooked mushrooms.
- Bring water for steaming to boil. Spray Chinese soup spoons lightly with oil, add dessertspoons of tofu mixture and mound to make a teardrop-shaped patty. Brush patties with a little oil. Place in steamer basket (I make 6 at a time). Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 10 minutes until glossy and firm. Remove cooked tofu patties from spoons, allow to cool. Repeat until tofu mix is used up. Re-oil spoons as needed.
- Heat approx 2 cm frying oil in medium saucepan. Coat 4-5 tofu patties in rice flour/cornflour mix, dusting off excess. Fry until golden, approx 2-3 mins each side. Drain fritters on paper towels. Now make Spicy Sichuan Sauce.
- ***Method for Spicy Sichuan Sauce:
- Heat oil in frying pan or wok. Add Chilli Bean Sauce, stir until fragrant and oil turns red. Add garlic and ginger, stir 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add water, soy sauce and tofu fritters, bring to boil. Simmer 5 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced a little, stirring and coating fritters with sauce.
- Stir in cornflour slurry bit by it to make a gravy (you may not need all of the slurry). Stir in vinegar and spring onions, simmer 1 minute. Turn off heat, drizzle with sesame oil.
- ***Method for Chilli Cucumber Salad:
- Lay cucumber between two wooden chopsticks. Starting about 2cm from round end (the head), cut straight across and down to the chopsticks (not all the way through the cucumber). Cut at ½ cm intervals, stopping about 5 cm before the tapered end (the tail). Turn cucumber over, realign the chopsticks, cut diagonally across ½ cm intervals down to the chopsticks, again not all the way through the cucumber, starting about 2cm from round end (the head) and ending at the tapered end (the tail). Your snake should now move like a slinky!
- Sprinkle spiralised cucumber with salt, leave 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining sauce ingredients. Drain any water from cucumber, decorate with tongue and eyes. Serve with sauce for dipping/drizzling.
- serve: Serve with extra chopped spring onions and a choice of blanched vegetables (eg baby bok choy, carrots, red capsicum). Steamed rice is also a good accompaniment.
Product used in recipe
- LEE KUM KEE - LKK CHILLI BEAN SAUCE 226G
- LEE KUM KEE - LKK SESAME OIL 207ML
- OBENTO - OBENTO YAKI NORI FOR SUSHI
